I first made this Spicy Grilled Eggplant with Red Pepper, Parsley, and Mint in 2007 when I had a garden that was overflowing with eggplant, and I made it every summer for a while when I was growing eggplant. My brother Rand must have been visiting Utah regularly in those days, because this got to be his favorite way to cook eggplant, and he also made it over and over!

Now fast forward a few years, and since then I've had an eggplant recipe that became one of the most popular recipes on my blog, but sadly I had to buy eggplant at the store to make this favorite eggplant recipe again so I could take new photos. Next year I really want to try growing eggplant in the garden again! I know eggplant is a tough sell for some people, but for years I've been saying give grilled eggplant a chance, and I promise that this spicy eggplant is really delicious.

You'll want to adjust the amount of spicy red pepper to your personal preference, and the one teaspoon of Aleppo pepper I used in the original recipe is pretty spicy for me now. Maybe it's because I had fresh Aleppo Pepper that I bought in Istanbul! You can also use regular red pepper flakes, or use a smaller amount of Cayenne Pepper.

Of course this spicy grilled eggplant is absolutely perfect for Meatless Monday, but this delicious way to cook eggplant is also low-carb, gluten-free, dairy-free, Paleo, Whole 30, vegan, and South Beach Diet Phase One, so you can make it for just about anyone!

And one more piece of news. When I made the commitment to get back in the groove with Meatless Monday again, I promised I'd try to focus on low-carb meatless recipes. So I've started collecting my Best Low-Carb Meatless Recipes on a new Pinterest board! If you're a Meatless Monday fan, vegetarian, or just someone looking for low-carb side dishes you might want to follow that board!

Cut the eggplant into slices about 3/4 inches thick; lay the slices out on paper towels, sprinkle with salt, and let water drain out for about 20 minutes. Then turn the eggplant over, salt the other side, let more water drain out; then press down on the eggplant pieces with paper towel to absorb the liquid. While the eggplant drains, chop the mint and parsley, and mix the spicy sauce.

Preheat the grill to medium high, and brush both sides of the eggplant slices with a little olive oil. Grill eggplant pieces about 4-5 minutes per side, rotating them after a few minutes if you want to get those criss-cross grill marks. When the eggplant is done, put in a glass baking dish and spoon a little sauce over each piece. Let the eggplant sit for 10-15 minutes to absorb the sauce.

Remove stem end and wash eggplant, but do not peel. Cut eggplant into slices about 3/4 inch (2 cm) thick, being careful to make all slices the same thickness. (Cut Asian eggplant on the diagonal to get bigger slices.) Arrange eggplant in single layer on double-thick paper towels and sprinkle with salt. Let liquid ooze out for 20 minutes, then turn over and sprinkle other side with salt and let drain 20 minutes more. (If you're using Asian eggplant, they don't need to be salted.)

After the second 20 minutes has finished, cover the eggplant pieces with another layer of paper towels and press down with your hands to squeeze out water. Wipe eggplant dry. Lay them out on a baking sheet (or paper towels) and brush both sides with olive oil.

Place eggplant on grill and cook 4-5 minutes per side, rotating after a few minutes on each side if you want to get nice grill marks. Watch them carefully because they go from nicely browned to overly dark quite quickly.

When eggplant is done, remove from grill and place in a single layer in a baking dish (or use the same baking sheet you used to oil them.) Spoon some of the spicy sauce over each piece of eggplant, and let sit 10-15 minutes so eggplant can absorb sauce flavors.

To serve, assemble eggplant on serving plate and sprinkle with mint and parsley. Serve warm or at room temperature.

I chose the South Beach Diet to manage my weight partly so I wouldn't have to count calories, carbs, points, or fat grams, but if you want nutritional information for a recipe, I recommend entering the recipe into Calorie Count, which will calculate it for you. Or if you're a member of Yummly, you can use the Yum button on my site to save the recipe and see the nutritional information there.

More Delicious Ideas for Eggplant:
(Recipes from other blogs may or may not be South Beach Diet friendly, check ingredients.)

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41 comments:

Hooray for growing (and cooking!) your very own garden-fresh eggplant. I've got the mint and parsley in my herb garden....now I must find a friend with an eggplant! This dish looks delicious, and with feta and olives it sounds even better.

I am slowly becoming a fan of eggplant. This could push me over the edge. Looks and Sounds wonderful... And I will try the salting. Not salting could be what has my only a partial fan....I'm just always in a hurry...

The mint I have by the ton! I won't be able to get a home grown eggplant but it will be a good one. Short break there while I ordered the Aleppo Pepper! So then I'll be making this! I do enjoy eggplant!

I had no idea there were so many eggplant lovers out there. I do hope I get more (right now I only see one more on the plant!) I will admit, this is the first time I've tried the salting step, but it worked well.

A friend of mine loves eggplant so much and I don't understand why (because I don't like eggplant that time) but when she made me taste the eggplant she cooked with a bit of spices added, I love it. Right now, I love eating those spicy eggplants she made. I'll tell her about this recipe and let see if she can cook it for me. This is exciting.

If any of you out there are eggplant challenged like I am you are going to LOVE this recipe. Kalyn just warmed up the leftovers for Bradley and I and it was DIVINE. I take back all the bad things I've said about the eggplant I've cooked over the years. Thanks Kalyn.Rand (& Bradley)

What a coincidence--I'm just about to post a grilled eggplant recipe, too. It's definitely the season for it! I'll have to include a link to your recipe so that everyone can find all the others you've linked to.

Kalyn,I did try this with pimenton (smoked paprika) instead of the spicier pepper and it was terrific. A good alternative for those that don't like the spicy stuff, and even for those that do.

Since I also did some grill-roasted cauliflower at the same meal, I used the "extra" marinade and poured it over the hot cauliflower, and let it sit for a bit. Not quite as stunning as the eggplant (the cauliflower doesn't absorb as much), but still a nice flavor boost to something lots of people think of as bland.

This was my first attempt at grilling eggplant; so after searching online for ideas and how to's I settled on this recipe. The deciding factor, I am sorry to say was the pic that was included with blog - which looks delish. This was the first time anyone in my group ever grilled and ate roasted eggplants so this was a new venture. I received so many compliments on this dish, along with request for the recipe. This was a week ago, here I am grilling eggplant again, unfortunately didn't save recipe so I had to search for it again. I have never posted a feedback on a recipe I found online, but this recipe was awesome. Thanks.

Excellent! I think the aleppo pepper adds a certain something...smokiness? Yesterday I snipped mint from a friend's garden, so I used all mint...scrumptious! Will definitely make again. (My grill ran out of gas, so today's meal was stovetop grill. Can't wait to try on the gas grill)

That sounds utterly gorgeous, Kalyn! I've got four eggplants in our greenhouse, and obviously it'll be a while before I can eat any of those. Will have to decide whether I'll use supermarket eggplants or whether I wait and savour this recipe in August :)

I'm so happy you're taking the time to comment on Kalyn's Kitchen! I love hearing from people who stop by, especially if you're sharing feedback or asking questions about a recipe I've posted here.

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